"Briefing on preventing abuse of the non-profit sector for the purposes of terrorist financing"

7 March 2013 at the United Nations, New York

A briefing on preventing abuse of the non-profit sector for the purposes of terrorist financing, was held at United Nations Headquarters, New York on 7 March 2013 by the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) within the framework of the activities of the Working Group on Tackling the Financing of Terrorism of the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF); in association with the Charity Commission for England and Wales; the Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency; and the Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation (CGCC).

The briefing marked the culmination of a global initiative on the terrorism-financing risk to non-profit organizations (NPOs) and the practical tools available to Governments and NPOs to mitigate that risk. Launched at an initial expert working-group meeting held in London in January 2011, the initiative consisted of five regional workshops, held in Bangkok (March 2011), Auckland (November 2011), Nairobi (March 2012), Buenos Aires (November 2012) and Doha (January 2013), respectively.

The aims of the initiative were to bring together experts from Member States, the non-profit sector and relevant international and regional organizations to discuss the risk of terrorism financing abuse in a regional context, to foster cooperation in that regard, and to promote the sharing of good practices. The initiative was delivered with the support of the Governments of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

The briefing provided an opportunity for participants to share the findings and insights drawn from the series of workshops with the wider membership.